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BBC News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hearn 'a little more hopeful' over Crucible future
Barry Hearn has held positive talks with Sheffield City Council over the World Snooker Championship staying at the Crucible beyond 2027 but says the deadline for a firm decision will come in contract to stage snooker's blue-riband event at the Sheffield theatre which has hosted it since 1977, expires in two Sport president Hearn, 76, is heavily involved in negotiations over its future has repeatedly called for a greater financial commitment and improved facilities at the venue."We all want to stay here but it has to be a combination," Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live."I am a little bit more hopeful after meeting Sheffield Council - the positivity and the enthusiasm I saw makes me think there is more than enough chance we can stay here."Sheffield have got a lot of ideas, we're going to meet in three months and we're working to an agenda of knowing more or less where we are by the end of this year. "Obviously if we do move - and it's not something we want to do, I keep stressing that - we need two years to get it planned properly."The Crucible's 980-seat capacity which limits ticket sales and overall revenue has long been seen as a problem for the sport, particularly set against ambitions to raise prize money for and Saudi Arabia have been linked with bids to stage the tournament, which Hearn also says would sell out with increased capacities at other major cities in Britain like, Glasgow, Manchester and year the world champion will receive a top prize of £500,000, an amount that is also on offer at the Saudi Arabia Masters. He also pointed out that next year's PDC world darts champion will collect £ Hearn also stressed that the need for growth and increased finance is not necessarily linked to those factors alone at a venue with which he has a long personal attachment to. "My life changed at the Crucible in 1981 when Steve Davis won the World Championship. I've been here every year for the past 48 years," he added."Our heart is here, our life is here, the history is here. I think compromise is in the air on both sides and we can do something that maintains the event here and at the same time produces much needed finance to go back to the players."We've just got to find that additional bit of assistance, which hopefully is going to be government-led, in terms of keeping our events in this country. Sheffield is the ideal home for snooker."
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Everyone just bought into it straight away'
Jose Mourinho had an "aura" that you just "had to follow", says former Chelsea defender Robert 30 April marks the 20th anniversary of Mourinho's first Premier League title win and the Blues' first league success for 50 his arrival to English football by calling himself "The Special One" in his first news conference, it made onlookers, including his new players, sit up and take notice."I was watching it [the first news conference] and I'd never seen someone with so much confidence, self-belief and it all transferred into the first meeting," Huth told BBC Radio 5 Live."Everyone just bought into it straight away. You could see the confidence straight away and it just got better and better. The standard got higher and higher."Success gives you the power to walk into a room with Roman Abramovich and be so demanding, and only he had the charisma to do it. He wanted 11 players that worked, he didn't want anyone to just drag along in a game. He wanted 11 workhorses and that's exactly what he signed."While not a regular starter, centre-back Huth was part of the team that won the league in Mourinho's first season in charge having conceded just 15 how he convinced players to buy into his style and mentality, the 40-year-old said: "He was a dad kind of figure - he'd treat you harshly if you made a mistake, but if you did well he'd hug you and made sure you do it again. He had that aura about him where you knew you had to follow him."We had 25 players competing for a spot. The competition in the whole squad was unbelievable and every training session was like a fight."If someone had a bit of an injury and it was two weeks out, he'd go, 'can you make it four weeks?' Just so other players in the squad could play minutes. All these psychology things that he worked on, worked."He was hands on with his players and staff, and if they weren't performing to the level he wanted them to be, he'd have a go. He set the standards - first in the training ground, first on the pitch, last to leave."When you have a manager like that, you just buy into it and love it."Listen to more Mourinho chat in the final hour of the show
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
How power outage in Spain and Portugal unfolded - minute-by-minute
The first sign of trouble Peter Hughes noticed was when his train to Madrid starting to slow the TV monitor and lights went off. Emergency lights switched on, but did not last, and the locomotive ground to a halt. Four hours later, Mr Hughes was still stuck on the train 200 kilometres (124 miles) outside of Spain's capital. He had food and water, but the toilets were not working. "It will be getting dark soon and we could be stuck here for hours," he told the massive power cut that stranded Mr Hughes triggered chaos across Spain and Portugal, and also impacted Andorra and parts of France, from about midday local time (10:00 GMT).Traffic lights shut off. Metros closed. Businesses shuttered and people joined queues to get cash as card payments did not Emery was on a different train halfway between Seville and Madrid when the cuts hit. For an hour, he sat on the train, the doors closed, until people could pry them open to let in ventilation. Half an hour later, passengers left, only to find themselves was when people from local villages started coming and dropping off supplies – water, bread, fruit. "Nobody is charging for anything, and word must be getting around in the local town because people just keep coming," he said. In Madrid, Hannah Lowney was half way through scanning her grocery shopping at Aldi when the power went out. People were coming out of their offices and walking home because they could not tell when the buses were coming, Ms Lowney said in a voice message sent to BBC Radio 5 Live."It's a bit disconcerting that it's the whole country, I've never experienced this before," she England was eating lunch in the restaurant of the hotel where is staying on holiday in Benidorm when "everything went off and the fire alarm started going off and the fire doors started closing".In an international school in Lisbon, the electricity flickered on and off for a while, then gave up, teacher Emily Thorowgood kept teaching in the dark, the children in good spirits, but lots of parents were taking their children out of school, she David, a Briton living in Lisbon, was having a haircut and beard trim in the basement of a barber when the power went down. The barber found him a spot by the window upstairs to finish the cut with scissors."The walk home felt very strange, both with the lack of traffic lights meaning a complete free-for-all for vehicles and pedestrians on the roads - as well as so many people milling around outside their places of work with nothing to do," he mobile phone networks also went down for some, leaving many scrambling for Gladden, who is in La Vall D'Uixo, about 30 miles from Valencia, said it was "scary" as he struggled to get updates about what was happening. Eloise Edgington, who could not do any work as a copywriter in Barcelona, said she was only receiving occasional messages, could not load web pages on her phone and was trying to conserve her battery. An hour and a half after the power went out, one resident of Fortuna, in south-east Spain, said her husband was driving around, trying to find a petrol station that could supply fuel to run a generator and keep their fridge powered."We are worried about food, water, cash and petrol in case this goes on for a couple of days," said Lesley, a Brit who has been living in Spain for 11 "have more to worry about" than the Madrid Open tennis tournament being suspended, she said, adding there is "very little news about what's happened". Mr England said walking down the street in Benidorm, a "majority of shops are in darkness and shuttered or have people on the entrances saying you can't come in. There's no cash machines, no traffic lights so it's strange." After Mr Gladden's phone signal returned after about two hours, he and others ventured out to cafes, but found "nothing is working – we came to get some food and a drink but they can't cook without electricity".Within two hours, Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica said it was beginning to recover power in the north and south of the two-and-a-half hours after the cuts, Madrid's mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida still urged all residents to "keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are", in a video recorded from the city's integrated emergency security 15:00 local time, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pulled together an "extraordinary" meeting of Spain's national security council. Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said at a news conference shortly afterwards that it could take "between six and ten hours" to restore power. Just before 16:00, electricity flicked back on in Malaga. By 17:00, the grid operator said power was being restored "in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian] peninsula".Portugal's power firm REN gave a more dire prediction, saying that it could "take up to a week" before the network was back to normal. 'No plan for where to stay' Knock on effects continue: Back-up generators at airports kicked on, allowing most flights to leave on time, but some have been unable to McGilloway, on holiday in Lisbon, was due to return to London on Monday night, but as of early evening did not know what would said for the time being people were getting drinks and food - but vendors told him they would only be able to keep working until the batteries ran out on their payment terminals."If I need to book a hotel if the plane is cancelled, I don't know how I can do it if payments are down," he added."My partner's parents are trying to get petrol so they can pick us up to take us back to Alentejo but many petrol stations are closed or not taking payment. We might be stuck with no plan for where to stay tonight." Have you been affected? Email haveyoursay@ Additional reporting and research by Andree Massiah, Kris Bramwell, James Kelly, Bernadette McCague, Josh Parry and Naga Munchetty
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How coping with 'heartbreak' changed everything for McIlroy
Here we go again. That inescapable feeling engulfed Rory McIlroy's fans during a Masters Sunday they wanted to watch through their fingers at certain points.A nightmare start saw the nervous 35-year-old from Northern Ireland overhauled by nearest rival Bryson DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard in a three-shot swing in the opening two after recovering to retake a three-shot lead with six holes left, McIlroy threatened to blow his chance yet willing him to win wondered if he was fumbling another golden chance to finally land the prize which had long eluded rollercoaster nature of his play-off triumph was essentially a microcosm of a career which has provided exhilarating highs and devastating his supporters had forgotten - understandably given the scar tissue they also had developed from his myriad near misses - was a very different McIlroy had emerged at Augusta National this week.A mature McIlroy. A calmer McIlroy. A patient importantly, perhaps, a McIlroy who has learned how to love himself again on the course after having his heart bitterly broken by the sport he adores. 'Rory found out how unbelievably tough he is' "At a certain point in life, someone doesn't want to fall in love because they don't want to get their heart broken," the world number two said in an illuminating pre-tournament news conference on Tuesday."Instinctually as human beings we hold back sometimes because of the fear of getting hurt, whether that's a conscious decision or subconscious decision."I think once you go through that, once you go through those heartbreaks - as I call them - you get to a place where you remember how it feels."You wake up the next day and you're like, 'life goes on, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be'."Mending his forlorn heart - and building the resilience which helped him execute special shots in his Masters win after tough psychological moments - has enabled the boy from Holywood to finally achieve golfing Sunday, he roared back to win the Green Jacket and become only the sixth man in 90 years of the four modern majors to win the career Grand makes his achievement even more remarkable is the 14-year journey which took him there."It was maybe one of the greatest performances ever, with so much pressure on him," McIlroy's sports psychologist Bob Rotella told BBC Radio 5 Live."What Rory is going to be so proud of is that he found out how unbelievably tough he is." The influence of the renowned sports psychologist From the moment on Tuesday when McIlroy opened up, you sensed there was something different in his with Rotella - who helped Ireland's Padraig Harrington win three majors - has been a key has known the renowned American since 2010 and the conversations between the pair intensified going into his 11th attempt to complete the career Grand Slam at the said they talked before the tournament about "trying to chase a feeling" on the course, rather than "getting too much into results and outcomes".The strategy worked perfectly in his opening 14 a pair of double bogeys dropped him seven shots off the lead. McIlroy again scarpered quickly from the reasoning was he wanted to "leave what happened" behind at Augusta National. The fast exit and a Friday morning chat with Rotella helped him bounce back into contention.A bogey-free 66, accelerated by five birdies on the second nine, moved him two behind Justin Rose at halfway."I had a good conversation with Bob, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straight away," McIlroy was also the plan for and Rotella discussed "letting the score come" and not trying to "force the issue" as he chased down Rose, who held a one-shot lead after 36 holes. A blistering start to his third round saw McIlroy sink three birdies and an eagle as he became the first player to card threes on each of the opening six he was stony faced. The solemn expression demonstrated his steely focus and remained throughout another card of refused to get carried away with the highs of his round, or too disheartened by a stickier patch around the turn."I certainly don't want to be a robot out there, but at the same time I don't want to be too animated, either," he into a one-shot advantage over DeChambeau set up Sunday's box-office contrasting approaches of the final pairing - McIlroy blocking out the noise, DeChambeau feeding off the rising decibels - added an intriguing largely maintained his composure in what DeChambeau described as an "electric" atmosphere. "He wouldn't talk to me," the maverick American his own counsel worked."Every time he made a mistake he came back and did something fantastic," Rotella said."It is like he had a will that was made of steel. He kept bouncing back no matter what they threw at him." Watching Bridgerton, Disney & sport - how 'distractions' helped Switching off from what happens on the course - or, at least, trying to - was another important which McIlroy used to zone out included watching racy period drama Bridgerton - which he claimed he was talked into by wife Erica - and Disney animation Zootopia with his four-year-old daughter up a fictional novel "for the first time in a long time" was another. Reading a John Grisham book called The Reckoning proved the morning of his own day of reckoning, McIlroy spent the hours before his career-defining day watching tennis star Carlos Alcaraz's win at the Monte Carlo Masters was followed by a "little bit" of Premier League football and the Formula 1 GP in Bahrain. "I tried to keep myself distracted with other sports," he time also helped McIlroy compartmentalise the day job. After Thursday's late blow, he said heading home to see Poppy before bedtime helped him move family took part in the Masters traditional par-three contest on Wednesday alongside McIlroy's close friends Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood, and their wives and stole the show by knocking in a 25-foot putt and joined her father again on the 18th green after he secured victory."I'm not going to compare this to life moments like a marriage or having a child," said McIlroy."But it's the best day of my golfing life." Dusting himself off from near misses - and Pinehurst When 25-year-old McIlroy claimed the fourth major of his career - at the 2014 US PGA Championship - it felt inevitable he would quickly complete the collection at the majors at the Open Championship and US PGA - having previously won the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA - signalled his dominance.A Green Jacket could have already been in the wardrobe, too, but he blew a four-shot lead on a haunting final day in sparked a long barren streak at all four majors, with McIlroy's heart crushed most recently at Pinehurst in world number two had charged up the US Open leaderboard to move two shots clear of overnight leader Bryson as McIlroy later admitted, he lost on three of his last four holes allowed DeChambeau to snatch a dramatic was a loss which cut deep. McIlroy fled Pinehurst swiftly, avoiding the media and laying low until the Scottish Open a month later."Some people have an experience like that and decide they don't want to get there again, it hurts too much," said Rotella."He said he wanted to win majors and could handle losing."While he missed the cut at the blustery Open Championship which followed, his bounce back in 2025 has been impressive.A dominant final round led to a two-shot victory at Pebble Beach in February, before he mentally reset to win last month's The Players Championship at Sawgrass in a play-off showdown on the so to Augusta National. The guttural emotion following Sunday's winning putt was McIlroy shedding the weight of burden which had laid heavy."Every time you get your heartbroken you have to bounce back and it makes for a better story – but you have to have the guts to keep going after it," Rotella added. "A lot give up on themselves. I admire the heck out of him because he didn't."
BBC News
21-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Five talking points from Tuchel's first game as England boss
England started the Thomas Tuchel era with a 2-0 victory over Albania in World Cup Myles Lewis-Skelly scored on his senior international debut before captain Harry Kane netted his 70th international goal to seal the Sport takes a look at some of the talking points from the game. What changed and what didn't? Before the game Tuchel created plenty of headlines when he said England looked like they had played with fear at Euro 2024 under his predecessor Gareth also suggested he wanted them to play Premier League-style physical for his tactical flexibility, nobody was quite certain what formation Tuchel would opt for - but he sent England out in a Tuchel's teams are normally known for their intensity and pressing, it was hard for England to show either against a team who set up as defensively as Albania, especially in the first the German is also still in the early stages of his reign - having only met his players four days ago for the first time since officially taking over in January."Thomas Tuchel's had the squad for three days - you can't expect to see a different England team," said former Three Lions midfielder Leon Osman on BBC Radio 5 Live."We won the football match. Once we got ahead there was no urgency. "We want to be entertained. There is a certain element of control which is good in tournament football."At the minute we're not in a tournament, we want to be entertained."England had 74% of the ball and 12 shots to Albania's three - with the hosts recording all six efforts on target in the the opening 45 minutes they completed 437 passes, the most on Opta's records of any England first visitors did try to play more after the break, but England's backline were only tested a few times by substitute Armando Broja. The result itself was routine - new England manager or not. The Three Lions are unbeaten in 38 home qualifiers for World Cups or Euros since November 2007, with 34 wins. "It was a difficult game from a spectating perspective," said former England defender Matt Upson on BBC Radio 5 Live."Once we got into the rhythm, it was very much an England game at Wembley against inferior opposition where they struggled to break them down."We are all wanting to see how Thomas Tuchel's plan is going to happen."There are so many questions, but ultimately they have to manage the game itself and England did that well."Upson added that Tuchel probably learned to "understand what it feels like and looks like tactically" to play against a team in a low block like Albania's. Lewis-Skelly continues rapid rise Just a few months ago, Arsenal left-back Lewis-Skelly, 18, would barely have been on England's radar. He had not played a senior professional game until after the September international he has broken into Arsenal's first team, scored against Manchester City and been sent off twice (although one was overturned) in 26 games - and now firmly established himself as a Gunners regular."It doesn't get much better," said former Arsenal centre-back Upson."The opportunity has fallen to him, the timing has been great. The amount of injuries Arsenal had got him in the team."Those doors have opened, but he has had to grab those opportunities. He looks to be a top player."Tuchel gave him a chance for England and he took it with both a prime example of the modern full-back role, Lewis-Skelly was front-footed, cutting into central midfield and popping up in the he got the opening goal when he appeared in the Albania area to score through Thomas Strakosha's legs from Jude Bellingham's fantastic through made him the third-youngest England goalscorer ever - and youngest to net on his debut. "In the second half he played as a number eight or a number 10," said Tuchel. "His very best position is where he plays for Arsenal in the double six. "We tried to play a bit more conventional today as it's easier to learn because we have many players from many different clubs, but he understands very quickly."Lewis-Skelly left the pitch to an ovation in the final tried three different left-backs in their final three Nations League games - Lewis Hall, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis - but Lewis-Skelly will hope to make the position his said: "He was absolutely superb. To manage and handle that occasion in the manner he did with the very limited senior football he has had... really speaks volumes about how good a player he is and how far he can go. It was a brilliant evening for him."When you look at the competition for that position, Lewis Hall is probably the closest. You can see a little battle between the two of them for the left-back slot. That was a big moment for Lewis-Skelly tonight to try to cement himself in Thomas Tuchel's mind for that role."Ex-Everton player Osman added: "He was dead relaxed, but he wasn't tested defensively."To secure the position he will have to show he can stand up defensively." Burn at centre of things to end dream week Centre-back Burn is the other end of the spectrum when it comes to England was the 32-year-old's first appearance for England at any age level. In fact he was England's oldest debutant since Kevin Davies in came in what is undoubtedly the best week of the 6ft 7in defender's Sunday, also at Wembley, he headed his boyhood club Newcastle ahead against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final as they won 2-1 to lift a first trophy in 56 following day he joined up with was given an immediate debut by Tuchel - and did became the first England debutant to make 100 or more passes on Opta's record - and ended up completing 135 from made more clearances (seven), won more tackles (two) and won more aerial duels (four) than any other Three Lions he managed to hit both crossbars, turning a clearance against his own woodwork before later heading Declan Rice's corner on to the said: "He was excellent in the first half, looked very good but didn't have much to deal with defensively. He showed his threat from set-pieces."However, there were a few moments where he was caught out, especially when Broja came Guehi, who was one of England's best players at Euro 2024, watched on from the bench with Ezri Konsa starting alongside Burn."There were a couple of moments in the second half where Burn got hurt in behind, got a bit tight and spun," said Upson. "His partnership with Konsa was excellent."Konsa's performance was very assured and showed he's really developed in the last six months. Playing in the Champions League with Aston Villa has brought him on to the next level. "Burn has moments of impact but I thought Konsa is probably best placed to keep his spot." But who didn't catch the eye? England wingers Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford both failed to set the game United forward Rashford, on loan at Villa, was given his first England chance in a year after rediscovering his form under Unai showed a few good touches, especially early on, but failed to create City's Foden had a similar experience on the right-hand side. They were both replaced, along with Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, in the 74th minute."Both of our wingers that started were not as impactful as they can be or as they are in club football," said Tuchel."At the moment I'm not so sure why we struggled to bring the ball quicker to them."They trained very well, they were decisive in training which is why they deserved it. They were very good in the last weeks in their clubs. "We will keep encouraging them and give them a structure so they can show their potential."Upson said: "Foden wants to come inside. He's not the type of out-and-out winger which Tuchel wants to play."He wants a fast-paced aggressive style - to go at teams. Foden is more of a footballer who likes to come to feet and open things up that way. "Rashford showed willingness and he has that speed but didn't quite find the end product tonight. "He was looking not to lose the ball instead of taking a risk. It's an area that will be tinkered with in games to come." Some things stay the same - Kane scores Captain Kane is England's all-time leading scorer by some way - and he netted his 70th international goal on came after a fine bit of control to take down Rice's cross before he passed the ball into the bottom is the first England player to score on his first appearance under three different managers - Roy Hodgson, Gareth Southgate and Tuchel."Typical Kane," said Upson. "He didn't get much action for quite long periods but a couple of his passes were superb. He drops deeps and clips those balls over the top. "His finish was really high level. The first touch and movement and to find that bottom corner was excellent. Very much a Kane-type performance. "He would probably want to be involved in the game a bit more in the build-up. But Albania sat in so didn't allow him a lot of opportunities to get the ball."The 31-year-old continued his fine association with Tuchel too, having bagged 44 goals in 45 games under the German at Bayern Pochettino is now the only manager Kane has scored more goals under.
